For a multiple-input multiple-output (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, MIMO for short) wireless communication system, in a transmit opportunity (Transmit Opportunity, TXOP for short), not all STA devices in a basic service set (Basic Service Set, BSS for short) need to receive data. Therefore, in a wireless communication system, a power save method is adopted, to enable an STA device receiving no data in the current TXOP to enter a Doze state. The STA device in the Doze state disables its own receiver, thereby reducing power consumption.
Currently, a power save method for a wireless communication system is that: an AP device sends an operation object identifier and a no TXOP power save indication (No TXOP Power Save indication, No TXOP PS indication for short) to an STA device. The operation object identifier is used for indicating one or more STA devices which need to perform an operation. The no TXOP power save indication may be yes or no, in which, if the no TXOP power save indication is no, it indicates that an STA device in this BSS is allowed to perform a power save operation in the current TXOP; if the no TXOP power save indication is yes, it indicates that the STA device in this BSS is forbidden to perform the power save operation in the current TXOP. An effective interval indicated by the no TXOP power save indication is the current TXOP, and therefore, if the STA device enters the Doze state, the STA device maintains the Doze state until this TXOP ends, and when this TXOP ends, the STA device is restored to an Awake state. In a power save method of current communication standards, No TXOP PS of all frames of the same TXOP is set to the same value, and the STA device having a function of entering the Doze state performs judgment only according to No TXOP PS of a first frame of a TXOP. Specifically, in a TXOP, after receiving the first frame, the STA device having the function of entering the Doze state judges whether power save is allowed to be performed in this TXOP according to the No TXOP PS of the first frame. If it is not allowed, the foregoing the STA device maintains the Awake state in the entire TXOP. If it is allowed, the foregoing the STA device judges whether to enter the Doze state according to a doze condition in all frames from the first frame to a last frame of this TXOP.
It is well-known that, the STA having the function of entering the Doze state refers to that the STA supports the function of entering the Doze state and the function is in an enabling state. The STA supporting the function of entering the Doze state may enable this function in a period of time, and disables this function in other period of time; that is, the STA may have the function of entering the Doze state in a period of time, and have no function of entering the Doze state in other period of time. Corresponding signaling in the prior art enables an STA to report information about whether the STA currently has the function of entering the Doze state to an AP. The existing power save method is adopted, and when no TXOP power save indication carried in the first frame of TXOP is no, it indicates that all STA devices in the BSS which are not included in the operation object identifier of the frame may enter the Doze state; in this case, generally all the STA devices in the BSS having the function of entering the Doze state perform judgment according to the doze condition, and if the doze condition is satisfied, the STA devices enter the Doze state. Therefore, for a multi-user MIMO (Multi-User MIMO, MU-MIMO for short) mode, the adopted existing power save method is only applicable to a case that the operation object identifier in the first frame of TXOP includes all the STA devices having the function of entering the Doze state related to the TXOP, and for a single-user MIMO (Single-User MIMO, SU-MIMO for short) mode, the method is only applicable to a case that an operation object identifier of each frame of the TXOP only indicates not more than one STA device having the function of entering the Doze state, so that power can be saved only under a few situations, the application range is small, and therefore the power save effect is undesirable.